Irish Car Bomb inventor apologises

Following strong criticism the inventor of the Irish Car Bomb drink, Charles Burke Cronin Oat, owner and bartender at the former Wilson's Saloon in Norwich, Conn, told WTNHTV that he regrets the name he gave his controversial concoction.

However, it has now been revealed that he invented a forerunner of the drink and called it the IRA.

"Of course today I would take that name back. Of course – there's no question about it," Oat said.

Oat apologized after an IRA victims group slammed the name saying it was disrespectful to the memories of those killed by car bombs.

Willie Frazer, a spokesman for the group FAIR said “It is disgusting that IRA car bombs which killed and maimed so many in Northern Ireland are being trivialized or celebrated in this way.

"I would have expected Americans, of all people, to behave more sensitively and responsibly. How would they like it if we developed the Al-Qaeda car bomb, the Twin Towers cocktail, or the 9/11 ice-cream sundae?"

The group has called for authorities in the United States to clamp down on the sales of the cocktail and asked that the websites advertising the drink be shut down.

Frazer said “All those who drink this cocktail and see it as a great joke wouldn't think it funny if they were caught in a car bomb themselves.

“I'd challenge them to meet victims of bombings – people who have lost arms and legs and are scarred for life."

According to the web site Irishcarbomb.com The Irish Car Bomb is said to have been invented in 1979 in Wilson's Saloon, 76 Franklin St. Norwich, Ct., on St.Patrick's Day, by Charles Burke Cronin Oat.

It was a variation of another drink he invented known as the Grandfather. Made of one half oz. (give or take) of Baileys and one quarter oz. (give or take) of Kahlua. After realizing that something was missing, Charles Burke Cronin Oat added some Jameson Irish Whiskey, as he did this he said "the IRA just showed up", due to the fact the mixture started to foam over like a little explosion. And with this invention, the Grandfather disappeared and a new drink, the IRA was born.

Two years later, while he and some friends where drinking IRAs and Guinness, Charles Burke Cronin Oat reinvented his recipe once again by dropping his shot of Bailey's and Whiskey into his half finished pint of Guinness with the comment "Bombs Away". And so the Irish Car Bomb came to be.